Shipmates

This is the tie-in book to a two part BBC 1 documentary series to be screened at 9.00pm in October and which will end on the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar on 21st October. Chris Terrill is famous for his fly on the wall documentaries which have been watched by millions and received wide critical acclaim. We have had HMS Brilliant and The Cruise (audience reached 11 million). Chris has based himself for the last few months in the very heart of the modern day naval experience. We will see: a Royal Naval Chaplain exorcising a haunted barracks in Portsmouth, a vodka-fuelled Trafalgar Day celebration in the British Embassy in the Moscow in 2004, a Polaris submarine crossing the Atlantic on an exercise in which it will 'pretend' to nuke America, the patrol of the frigate HMS Chatham in the Gulf, suddenly diverted to Sri Lanka after the Tsunami and the Fleet Review, where HMS Chatham in honour of her humanitarian role in Asia, will lead the entire assembly of a hundred warships, British and foreign, down the Solent. Chris is the only film maker to be granted exclusive, behind the scenes access by the Navy this year. During the filming Chris will capture the heart and soul of the sailors aboard, and on shore: there will be plenty of irreverence, practical jokes and laughs, and the human reality of the families left behind for months on end as warships and submarines go on extended tours of duty. This will be the fullest ever account of the Modern Navy in a year when the Trafalgar Day celebrations and the Fleet review will attract an avalanche of publicity.

Préface
The enthralling tie-in to the BBC documentary in celebration of the Royal Navy at two hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar.

Auteur

Chris Terrill

Texte du rabat

To accompany the BBC television series, this book is a wide-ranging account of the Royal Navy in the two-hundredth-year anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, revealing the daily life of the 'shipmates' at the naval base in Plymouth -- the largest in Europe -- and at sea with HMS Chatham. Terrill explores the proud tradition of the Royal Navy, which has been the first line of defence of this island race since the reign of King Alfred, focuing on the Navy's heritage (through the Trafalgar celebrations) and its current and ever-changing role in the modern world. Whether engaging in "runs ashore" at Dubai or confronting the awful devestation caused by the tsunami in Sri Lanka, the Navy is always a "little piece of Britain" at sea.
The shipmates are the beating heart of the Royal Navy. Their hopes and fears make the big questions come to life in intimate, humorous and often surprising ways. Whether it be the young recruit leaving home to join 'the mob', the charismatic chaplain on board the ship, or the seasoned matelot hooked on life at sea, these individuals each have stories and experiences that are not only unique to the Navy, but that also help to explain the very particular mindset of the men and women who join such a force.